(Updates with call to double EU aid, paragraphs 9-11) By David Lewis KINSHASA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Joseph Kabila will be sworn in on Wednesday as Congo's first freely elected president in more than four decades, but he faces a mammoth task to satisfy popular expectations after years of war, dictatorship and chaos. Topping his list of challenges will be reuniting a politically divided nation, disarming and re-integrating tens of thousands of gunmen and providing a semblance of social services in a huge country ravaged by conflict, corruption and neglect. Originally catapulted into Democratic Republic of Congo's presidency by the assassination of his father, Laurent, in 2001, Kabila last month obtained a five-year mandate though the ballot box by defeating his rival Jean-Pierre Bemba in a run-off vote. The first free elections in the former Belgian colony in over 40 years were protected by the U.N.'s biggest peacekeeping force and crowned a peace process ending Congo's 1998-2003 war. But while hopes for change are high in a strategically located central African country that is a treasure trove of mineral riches, the problems facing it still seem overwhelming. "Despite the progress made, this is still unfortunately one of the world's worst humanitarian catastrophes," Ross Mountain, deputy head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, told Reuters. Congo's war sparked a humanitarian crisis in which more than four million people were killed. Aid workers say 1,200 Congolese still die every day from violence, hunger and disease. "The international community needs to remain engaged," Mountain said. In Brussels, the European Commission urged European Union states on Monday to double aid for Congo in the coming years. For 2002-2007, the EU had earmarked 205 million euros ($273.1 million) for Congo. The Commission suggested the bloc should allocate 411 million euros ($547.5 million) for 2008-2013, its aid spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said. "There is everything is to be done in this country which lacks infrastructure, where ministerial buildings are in a very poor state, where massive investments are needed," Altafaj said. FORMING A GOVERNMENT Kabila's first task, however, will be to form a government. Hugely popular in his native Swahili-speaking east, the 35-year-old former guerrilla chief has tried to broaden his political base and attract figures from the Lingala-speaking west, where Bemba, himself an ex-rebel leader, is strong. "He understands that he needs to reach out to the people who didn't vote for him," a presidency official told Reuters. "Something needs to be done fast, otherwise we know there will be unrest, at least in Kinshasa," he added. The sprawling capital is home to eight million people. Most do not have access to clean water and receive only sporadic electricity. Basic healthcare is expensive, if available at all. Despite earlier fighting in the streets between soldiers loyal to Kabila and Bemba, the challenger has not, as feared, called for protests against the election result, but vowed instead to lead a strong opposition. Analysts say dealing with the armed groups that still terrorise Congo's east must be a priority for Kabila. "He has got to complete the disarmament and integration process. There are still some 76,000 soldiers across the country who haven't been through it yet," said Henri Boshoff, military analyst at Johannesburg-based Institute for Security Studies. (Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander in Brussels)
